Wilderness to Water. Reflections regarding God's faithfulness, character, love, and the gospel of Jesus Christ. An examination of God's grace and power through meditative prose, poetry, original drawings and full-color photographs.

“ ‘I have not made trouble for Israel,’ Elijah replied [to Ahab]. ‘But you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the LORD’s commands and have followed the Baals. Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.’ ”

“So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. Elijah went before the people and said, ‘How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.’

“But the people said nothing.” —1Kings 18: 18-21

“The religious cleansers operate under the guise of civil liberty and the U.S. Constitution contending in the political arena and the courts that the so-called separation of church and state means that religious beliefs, values and practices should be barred from the public square.”—Jay Sekulow

“Our society has created a new civil right: the right not to be offended, nor even to have to listen to competing truth claims.”—Josh McDowell

Biblical Christianity need not apply

We live in a time when the spiritual underpinnings of western civilization are being methodically removed and Biblical principles undermined. Biblical Christianity is held up to ridicule, often scoffed at and mocked. Mention words like holiness, repentance, atonement and redemption to someone…practically anyone… these days, and you will most likely receive either a vacant, puzzled stare or a dismissive rolling of the eyes. If you mention the word “sin”, be prepared for petulant or condescending scorn. If you mention moral truth, expect open hostility. Today, ideas such as these register like malignant alien intruders in this progressive, “All-You-Need-Is-Love-(baby)” age.

These unsafe and foreign ideas, like metastasizing cancer cells (one must imagine), must be corralled and quarantined at all costs. Traditional, orthodox Biblical concepts are being flagged and marked as culturally taboo. In some quarters, they are considered quite dangerous. In the name of public safety and…(ahem)… “tolerance”, the open expression of these traditional…(but now backward and ill-conceived)… “Bible- ideas” from God’s Word, are being purposefully marginalized and bullied into submission. Increasingly, centuries-old traditional Christian morals, views and values are judged to be intolerant, unfit, unwelcome and unworthy of consideration in post-modern public discourse. Today, only the Secular-Progressive, pop-cultural worldview… the guiding light of stylish and fashionable New Age Self-Esteem and Sensation-ism… may be presented, pushed and promoted, and it must be done so appropriately…that is to say, unopposed and unchallenged.

Actor Christopher Reeve expressed the ’enlightened’ sentiment well: "When matters of public policy are debated, no religions should have a place at the table."

Translation: Only the religion of Secular Humanism allowed. When “Superman” speaks, God is silenced. In other words, if you must be ‘religious’, keep it to yourself in private isolation. Keep silent….. Say nothing.

The intimidating, seductive and cunningly deceptive spirit of Jezebel is alive and well.

"Jezebel", Henry John Stock

“Sin’s Been Voted Off The Island”

An Equivocation Nation….
Give an inch...and slide a mile.
We’ve turned God’s Grace into license,
And we’re doing it in style!

We are caring…all-embracing!
We’re progressing right along.
Like us, our rebellion’s open…
Until nothing’s really wrong!

We see law and say “Whatever.”
We pretend nobody cares.
Then we hope no Judge is watching…
In this Kingdom of the Air.

We’ve been told that Man’s the Measure,
And our goal?...Sweet Self-Esteem.
Harvard scholars have confirmed it.
In this New Age Dream Machine.

Truth?... Oh, goodness!...Don’t be silly!
Holy Law?...Good, heavens!…Please!
Such discomfort can’t be healthy.
So say men with PhD’s.

We’re relieved to hear the good news
Jezebel’s old New Age treat.
Yes, “The Fall” has truly fallen
Out of favor …O, How sweet!

Sin’s been voted off the island,
All the stars declare, “Passe!”
We believe our Oscar winners …
Yes, we trust what Idols say.

Holy Spirit, please remind us
Of the Truth once handed down,
And again, Lord, come and guide us
To the Cross where He is found.

Help us see true Light in darkness,
Ears to hear your Word again….
Please, Good Shepherd, come and find us
In this Wilderness of Sin.

“Western civilization is for the first time in its history in danger of dying. The reason is spiritual. It is losing its life, its soul; that soul was the Christian faith…..”—Peter Kreeft

Janus, God of chaos/deception

“Wearing a benign mask, the secularist loudly proclaims his commitment to religious tolerance on behalf of those weak-minded souls who still cannot bear to face a hostile, or worse, an indifferent universe, without the narcotic effect of ecclesiastical opium. The church is safe from vicious persecution at the hands of the secularist, as educated people have finished with stake-burning circuses and torture racks. No martyr’s blood is shed in the secularist West – so long as the church knows her place and remains quietly at peace on her modern reservation. Let the babes pray and sing and read their Bibles, continuing steadfast in their intellectual retardation; the church’s extinction will come not by sword or pillory, but with the quiet death of irrelevance. It will pass away with a whimper not a bang. But let the church step off the reservation, let her penetrate once more the culture of the day, and the Janus face of secularism will change from benign smile to savage snarl.”—Dr. R.C. Sproul